Honk if you love Israel

Many of us remember the popular Cruella de Vil license plate “DEV IL,” from the classic Disney movie 101 Dalmations. Or the iconic Back to the Future "OUTATIME" vanity plate.

Well, now South Carolina wants in on the action. On June 2, Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill into law that would allow car owners in the Palmetto State to sport pro-Israel vanity plates. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles can now issue “South Carolina Stands with Israel” license plates for private cars, so long as they match the regular ones in size and general design.

The legislation co-sponsored by Representative Alan Clemmons, a staunch supporter of Israel—was approved in the House in April by a 57-to-1 vote, and in a unanimous vote in the Senate in May. Clemmons is also the author of a resolution dubbed “South Carolina Stands with Israel,” which commends the State of Israel for its relations with the United States and South Carolina.

Signed into law on June 2, 2011, it backed Israel as “neither an attacking force nor an occupier of the lands of others,” saying peace could be achieved “only through a united Israel governed under one law for all people.”

South Carolina and Israel have been enjoying mutually-beneficial relations since 1948.